Topcoder is hosting the AMD OpenCL™ Coding Competition.  This competition takes programming to the next level by introducing the GPU to the mix, i.e. heterogeneous computing.  By harnessing the GPU’s compute power through the use of the AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing Technology (AMD APP SDK) with OpenCL 1.1 support, you tap into huge parallel processing potential.  With AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), the CPU and GPU are on the same die, i.e. a massive floating-point computation engine at your disposal without the traditional bandwidth bottleneck of other heterogeneous computing platforms. Check out the short APU video for a high level introduction to AMD Fusion APUs. 

Just think of what that you could do with AMD Fusion APUs for game physics, facial recognition, voice recognition, video searching, video stabilization, etc.  Applications requiring massive vector operations may benefit from AMD Fusion architecture and OpenCL.  What kinds of applications can you dream up that take advantage of this architecture?

Phase I:   OpenCL Innovation Challenge

The first phase is an open innovation challenge where you have total creative license to blow us away.  There are some rules of course, but use the AMD APP SDK with OpenCL™ 1.1 support to create an outstanding application, and you could have the chance to win some serious cash.  We are looking for applications that will shine on AMD Fusion APUs, and taking into account things like creativity, commercial potential, open source potential, algorithm efficiency, magnitude of effort and quality.

Timeframe:

• Duration – 2 months
• June 15^th – August 15^th

Prizes:

• 1^st – $20,000
• 2^nd – $10,000
• 3^rd – $5,000
• 4^th – $2,500
• 5 Honorable Mentions – $250

Register today

Phase II:  OpenCL Performance Challenge

We will give you an application algorithm and it will be up to you to optimize the algorithm.  The fastest result wins!  You have 3 chances to win.

Timeframe:

• Duration 2 weeks each
• Start dates:
  • September 12^th
  • September 26^th
  • October 10^th

Prizes:

• 1^st – $2,000
• 2^nd - $1,000
• 3^rd - $500
• 4^th - $250
• 5^th – $100

Learn more about:

• The competition at http://amd.topcoder.com
• OpenCL programming at the OpenCL Zone
• Enabling GPU programming with AMD APP SDK

Are you ready to push the envelope and think outside the box?  Prove it and potentially win big.  We look forward to your submissions!